This invention relates to a tarpaulin cover retention system for use with open-topped boxes such as truck and trailer boxes.
The prior art has provided a wide variety of tarpaulin cover systems for use on open-topped truck and trailer boxes and the like. Certain of these tarpaulin cover systems employ roller devices whereby the tarpaulin may be rolled up and stored when not in use and thereafter unrolled and stretched across the open top of the box and secured in place thereby to protect the contents of the box from the effects of weather and against loss due to air currents encountered during highway transportation.
While several of the previously known systems have enjoyed a measure of success, these systems present some difficulties particularly in the means which they employ for releasably securing a side edge of the tarpaulin along a upper side portion of the open-topped box. Many of these devices are cumbersome and difficult to use, i.e. they do not provide for rapid attachment and detachment of the tarpaulin side edge. Some of the prior art arrangements do not provide the necessary degree of security against unwanted release while others do not provide an adequate seal between the tarpaulin side edge and the top side portion of the box with the result being that there is excess air ingress into the space between the tarpaulin and the material being carried which can result in a loss of materials, particularly when light particulate materials are being transported.